It's funny, I think the KEF's best at vocals, at least compared to the momentum. The momentum is kind of like the Focal Spirit One with more bass (looser bass). The vocals are extremely intimate . Nice for R&B and Jazz but not so much for rock.

Actually my ears are slowly starting to get more used to the KEF sound. Was just listening to Pearl Jam - Garden and the opening guitar riff just sounds so gorgeous on the M500. When I re-listened with the Momentum it all sounded a bit muffled by comparison. The mids are definitely great on the M500, and so is the bass. The bass is nice and tight. The only thing I'm still not used to is the relatively strong treble.

I dunno, so far the best way to describe it is that somehow the M500 is more engaging, it grabs my attention a bit more, whereas the Momentum a bit less so (still sounds great though). Perhaps it's also that the Momentum sound signature is not too far off from the Shure SE530 I'm used to, whereas the M500 is definitely different.

Too bad the M500 doesn't isolate as well. But in the end SQ is the most important factor :)

Actually my ears are slowly starting to get more used to the KEF sound. Was just listening to Pearl Jam - Garden and the opening guitar riff just sounds so gorgeous on the M500. When I re-listened with the Momentum it all sounded a bit muffled by comparison. The mids are definitely great on the M500, and so is the bass. The bass is nice and tight. The only thing I'm still not used to is the relatively strong treble.

I dunno, so far the best way to describe it is that somehow the M500 is more engaging, it grabs my attention a bit more, whereas the Momentum a bit less so (still sounds great though). Perhaps it's also that the Momentum sound signature is not too far off from the Shure SE530 I'm used to, whereas the M500 is definitely different.

Too bad the M500 doesn't isolate as well. But in the end SQ is the most important factor :)

The KEF does have a very slightly hard treble, but it's slight and I wouldn't call them piercing. Let them burn in a little and that combined with you getting more and more used to them will make the treble less offensive.

It's funny, I think the KEF's best at vocals, at least compared to the momentum. The momentum is kind of like the Focal Spirit One with more bass (looser bass). The vocals are extremely intimate . Nice for R&B and Jazz but not so much for rock.

Definitely agree!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lan647

The M500 has very natural sounding vocal reproduction, and not in your face. The Momentum (and Shure's) have a treble and upper mid recession which makes vocals sound thicker and mellower, nice and euphonic at times but in the end just not neutral enough to my taste.

With this, I don't particularly agree! LOL (this goes to show how different our ears/brain work). I actually found the vocals/upper mids to be a bit elevated.

Actually my ears are slowly starting to get more used to the KEF sound. Was just listening to Pearl Jam - Garden and the opening guitar riff just sounds so gorgeous on the M500. When I re-listened with the Momentum it all sounded a bit muffled by comparison. The mids are definitely great on the M500, and so is the bass. The bass is nice and tight. The only thing I'm still not used to is the relatively strong treble.

I dunno, so far the best way to describe it is that somehow the M500 is more engaging, it grabs my attention a bit more, whereas the Momentum a bit less so (still sounds great though). Perhaps it's also that the Momentum sound signature is not too far off from the Shure SE530 I'm used to, whereas the M500 is definitely different.

Too bad the M500 doesn't isolate as well. But in the end SQ is the most important factor :)

So far I'm starting to lean a bit towards the M500.

I definitely agree with that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trunks159

I can't sense it. With all these dark closed cans out there (M100, Momentum, 1r, FS1 etc), it must be more of the other headphones' problems.

I didn't find the MDR-1R particularly dark, nor the M100s... at least not in the same vein as the Momentums/Mad Dogs/KEF.

I really have to say that the M500 is growing on me. I keep wanting to put them back on whenever I listen to the Momentum. The Momentums sound a bit veiled compared to the M500, like someone put a cardboard box over my head (okay, I'm greatly exaggerating, but you get the point )

The M500 sounds good with every genre I've thrown at it so far. And they're also just more comfortable than the Momentum (on my ears anyway).

Anyway, will let them burn in overnight and listen some more tomorrow.

My bets are on you chosing the M500 over the Momentum - mostly because your ears are bigger than mine. (you previously mentioned wearing them on-ear more than 'around ear')

There is definitely a correlation between [smaller] ear size and how [very] much people enjoy the Sennheiser Momentum.

A lot of the same adjectives keep popping up about the Momentum on various threads; "veiled" "boring" "recessed mids" "boomy bass", but none of these match up with what I hear, but they do match up with those who can only wear the 'full-size' Momentum on-ear.

My bets are on you chosing the M500 over the Momentum - mostly because your ears are bigger than mine. (you previously mentioned wearing them on-ear more than 'around ear')

There is definitely a correlation between [smaller] ear size and how [very] much people enjoy the Sennheiser Momentum.

A lot of the same adjectives keep popping up about the Momentum on various threads; "veiled" "boring" "recessed mids" "boomy bass", but none of these match up with what I hear, but they do match up with those who can only wear the 'full-size' Momentum on-ear.

I can wear the Momentum all around my ears, I've got a great fit. And while the Momentum on it's own is a great headphone in my opinion, the KEF does offer a clearly better audio performance. It just comes down to where your references are, what sound you think is the best. I think STAX makes the best sounding headphones on this earth, and that's the benchmark for me.

My bets are on you chosing the M500 over the Momentum - mostly because your ears are bigger than mine. (you previously mentioned wearing them on-ear more than 'around ear')

There is definitely a correlation between [smaller] ear size and how [very] much people enjoy the Sennheiser Momentum.

A lot of the same adjectives keep popping up about the Momentum on various threads; "veiled" "boring" "recessed mids" "boomy bass", but none of these match up with what I hear, but they do match up with those who can only wear the 'full-size' Momentum on-ear.

I am starting to lean that way. But it also has to do with the fact that they sound so different from my trusty SE530s. So now I'm hearing music that I've been listening to for years in a different way, so it's all quite exciting. Have been listening to music for about 6 hrs now :) A/Bing between Momentum and M500, but the past 2-3 hrs mostly on the M500.

And yeah, everytime I put on the Momentums I have to fidget to get the right fit (on my ears partially on-ear/over-ear fit, sort of in between. Really wish they would've made them a few mm bigger).

Now I wouldn't go as far as to call the Momentums boring, they sound great and some of the songs I've listened to I actually prefer the sound of the Momentum, as on those songs the M500 was maybe a bit too forward with the highs. But overall, so far I prefer the M500. Lower noise isolation be damned! :-P

Disclaimer: I’m not under the illusion that I have perfect hearing and can discern every little detail. When I was a bit younger I visited plenty of parties/concerts and there were several times I’d come home with ringing ears, i.e. I probably damaged my hearing a bit over the years :) Also, my point of reference in terms of sound is my Shure SE530 IEM with my iPod classic (Rockboxed). So my ears are used to a warm sound with forward mids. The purpose of this comparison test is for me to decide which one sounds better to my ears, in terms of overall sound signature, but also in terms of detail and physically speaking in terms of comfort and sound isolation (although I can live with a bit less isolation if the sound itself is really good).

Initial impressions

Comfort: M500 is more comfortable on ears. Barely notice it’s there. However, when shaking my head, I feel like they could fall off. Momentum a bit less comfortable, they don’t fully engulf my ears, making them more on-ear than over-ear. It takes a bit of fidgeting each time I put them on before they sit well. However, they do stay put and I could almost headbang without having to fear them falling off.

Sound difference: they have a distinctly different sound. KEF M500 is more open sounding, a bit brighter. Momentum sounds a bit darker. M500 seems to have a wider soundstage, the Momentum a bit more intimate. Not sure which sound I like more and will have to do more detailed listening to decide that. It could just be my imagination, but the M500 seems to retrieve ever so much more detail on certain tracks I’m listening to (such as Sigur Rós – Ny Batteri, the live version from Inni).

Also the treble is a bit more pronounced on the M500 vs. the Momentum. So compared to the Momentum the sound is a bit bright I guess. For me that really takes some getting used to, since I’m coming from the Shure SE530 IEM, which is anything but a bright IEM.

In terms of vocals, so far I like the way the vocals sound on the Momentums a bit more than on the M500. On the M500 it sounds a bit thin compared to the Momentum (this is very relative of course and again keep in mind that I’m used to the Shure house sound).

As far as bass is concerned (I’m not really a basshead, but I do like it to be there when the music calls for it), I need to do some more A/Bing on that. They both seem to have plenty of it though :)

Isolation: The Momentum appears to isolate you from outside noise a bit better than the M500. Will have to do further testing on this though.

Anyway, these are just my initial impressions. Will update it some more over the coming days. Will probably decide by Monday which one I’ll keep :)

Great write up. Tough call between both of these 2 great cans....might explain why I still have both.